Never Know
by Blueberry Momoko
Summary: It's funny, most people can be around someone and gradually begin to love them and never know exactly when it happened. MiJack


Never Know

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's because if I did, Carly wouldn't have been a Dark Signer, Yusei and Aki and Mikage and Jack would be together by now! But, alas, I don't, so on with the story! (Yusei: You talk too much, Blueberry-kun…) Oh yeah, and I don't own the quote, either!

**Mikage's POV**

My mom once told me, "It's funny, most people can be around someone and then gradually begin to love them and never know exactly when it happened." At the time, we had been talking about my first boyfriend, who had been my best friend since kindergarten. Now, I knew that the relationship wouldn't last forever. I had always been sweet, not an airhead. Still, I took solace in this quote, not knowing its real meaning. Well, not until I met Jack Atlas.

I originally had a strong dislike for Jack. (Hate is such a strong word.) He was loud, rude, and arrogant. He would snap at me while training if I had accidentally interrupted him, and also for pettier reasons.

But some days, when a duel was a close shave and he was in a particularly bad mood, I would tell Jack stories about my losses and victories in life. I told him about how I was picked on from kindergarten to twelfth grade, but became head of the newspaper in high school. About how I broke up with Dai, my first boyfriend, one morning and then figured out that I was an officer for a club later that day. I was beginning to hope that Jack would open up to me, but he never did. I figured he had nothing to tell. I later learned there was nothing he _wanted_ to tell.

I don't really know when I first fell in love with Jack, but I know it was long before Carly came along. By then I had taken to glaring at his fan girls when he wasn't looking. So, naturally, when he and Carly got together after the whole Dark Signer experience, I felt as if someone had ripped out my heart and thrown it to the floor, still beating in front of me. I had confided all of this to Aki, who had become my best friend after the whole ordeal. (I know what you're thinking. You and Aki, best… Say what now?)I had come up with a resolution a few a weeks after I joined the defense force; If Jack and Carly lasted more than six months, I would ask out Ushio, even if it killed me.

The night before I planned to do this, though, Jack came knocking at my door.

"What is it, Atlas-sama?" I asked, calling him Atlas-sama out of force of habit.

"Number one, Mikage, call me Jack and number two, Carly and I just kind of … broke up," he said, putting his face in his hands.

"What? That's terrible! Tell me about it!" I said. I know most of you are thinking I'm a hypocrite, but wouldn't you demand a loved one tell you about heartbreak, regardless of who did the heartbreaking?

"Mikage, don't-," Jack began before I cut him off.

"Tell me about it," I said firmly, grabbing his wrist. Violet irises looked down at me, shocked I had used such a tone with him.

"Alright," he said exasperatedly, putting his face back in his hands. He entered my apartment, sat on my couch and began to tell his story. I sat across from him, shocked. She had told him that there was too much bad blood between them and how it would never work. "And the funny thing is Mikage, I agreed," he said. By this point, I had my head down, my heart near to bursting with sadness, so when he said this, I immediately snapped my head up.

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

"Because, Mikage, she was right," he said, smiling sadly. I put my head back down, wanting to cry for the man in front of me, because I knew he never would cry for himself. "_And_, I realized that loving her was a safe way of loving you," he continued softly.

I looked up again, but didn't say anything. When I finally spoke, I whispered, "A safe way of loving… _me_?"

He stood and said, "Yes, _you_, Mikage. You both have that sweet, bubbly personality, but with you being my ex-secretary, it would have been awkward." When I opened my mouth to tell him I didn't care, he said, "_Would_ have been awkward, but not anymore. Mikage, I've been a jerk and I'll always be a jerk, but I love you and always will. Don't forget that, don't you ever forget." By this time I had stood up and Jack had a grip on my arms. When I didn't respond, he said, "You know, you could say something."

"This is totally out of character for you," I said quietly. At this comment, Jack looked crestfallen. With that one look, something inside me broke and a few tears spilled from my eyes. "I love you, too," I said, my voice cracking. I pressed hard on the back of his neck, pressing is lips to mine. Every fiber of my being melted and I loved every second of it. When we broke apart, I looked up at him and said something that made his face, streaked with my tears, break into a smile.

"It's funny, most people can be around someone and gradually begin to love then and never know exactly when it happened."

Blueberry-kun: This is my first 5D's fic and I _know_ some things are little weird in this, but I only except constructive criticism not flames, so if you're going to flame, you might as well ship out. But other than that, review please!!


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